Planned Parenthood said Friday that it fears the House may go from “bad to worse” after House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, steps down by the end of October.
“While John Boehner was never a champion of women’s health in this country, even he recognized that defunding Planned Parenthood wasn’t what the American people wanted,” according to Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the organization’s advocacy arm.
Conservatives in the House and Senate want to defund the organization after a series of undercover videos detailed the harvesting of aborted fetal body parts for tissue research. GOP leaders are expected to try to get around that fight next week with a bill that funds the government for a few months, buying more time to work out a funding agreement.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a continuing resolution to fund the government that stripped federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told reporters that there will be a clean continuing resolution to fund the government by Monday.
Boehner also planned to issue a clean continuing resolution, but agreed to votes on other bills to take on Planned Parenthood and abortion services.
The women’s health and abortion provider gets about $500 million in federal funding a year, but under federal law is prohibited from using any funding for providing abortions.
